Corn rises above $4 after upbeat USDA data

Corn futures rose over one percent in American trade away from April 26 lows even as the dollar index hit December 22, 2017 highs, following earlier data from the US, the world's largest corn producer and exporter. 

As of 07:56 GMT, corn futures due on July 15 rose 1.45% to $4.0225 from the opening of $3.9650, while the dollar index climbed 0.68% to 93.22 from the opening of 92.59. 

Earlier US data showed retail sales rose 0.3% m/m, slowing down from 0.8% in March, and missing expectations of 0.4%, while core sales slowed down as well to 0.3% from 0.4%, missing estimates of 0.5%. 

The Empire State Manufacturing Index rose to 20.1 from 15.8 in April, beating forecasts of 15.1, while business inventories were unchanged, compared to a 0.6% rise in March, while analysts expected a 0.2% increase.

The NAHB Housing Market Index rose to 70 in line with expectations in May from 68 in April. 

The US Department of Agriculture reported 62% of corn product has been cultivated in so far until May 8, compared to 39% in the previous week, while 28% of the product has appeared from the ground already, up from 20% from the previous week, and 27% in the same period of 2017. 

The USDA reported 1.55 tonnes of inspected corn product in the week ending last Sunday, down from 1.92 thousand in the previous week, with total inspected product so far this marketing year amounting to 34.78 million tonnes.